by Scatterlung » Fri Aug 28, 2009 3:22 am
- Motto: "I'd just like to remind you all that I'm best. Thank you."
- Weapon: Mighty Ear
My own review:
Well, the first thing I did was try out the new Autobots.
G1 Prime does indeed have a lot more firepower in the rifle of his. He looks quite nice, though my own gripe is that his blue isn't quite the blue from G1, but thats nitpicky. Other than shooting, he seems to exhibit all the same animations as his movie counterpart, barring obviously transformation. His special is the ballistics shielding, but instead of blue, he turns gold, as per The Golden Lagoon.
Sideswipe is nifty. The animators could have spent a little more time watching a colleague roll around on skates for a bit because I'm not entirely convinced by his animation, but he is still very slick. Not quite as fast as I'd imagined he'd be. But his animation has had thought put into it: Hold forward for a while, and he'll stop pushing and simply glide with his blades out, before pushing to gather more momentum. His weapons are very meh though, apart from his blades which are, as you might expect, his defining feature. His special charges up and fires his blades, as he does while attacking Sideways in the movie.
Jazz is my favourite new addition. His animation and movement seems to all be based around a mixture of capoeria and breakdancing. His advanced melee attack launches him from robot mode into a windmill kick, spinning on his head with his legs apart sending anything in their way flying. I especially like his transformation, where the animators clearly paid attention to the first movie. Going into vehicle mode, he does a little spin, which can be awkward while planning an escape as you don't know which way he'll be facing, but its damn fun to look at. His secondary weapon is some crazy homing disc launcher and it's just badass.
G1 Megatron replaces the Flight Megatron model (NOT the tank one) meaning you wont be able to play as him until the final mission in Single Player. He obviously flies instead of transforming and to be honest, I didn't find all that much to do with him. He looks very nice and has some nice weapons (including the mace to counter G1 Prime's Axe) but all in all... meh. A satisfied 'meh' mind you.
G1 Starscream is my favourite, possibly. He looks almost identical to the masterpiece/classics release in vehicle mode, and his robot mode is nice and angular. He has lasers, rockets and his special launches a small Megatron in gun mode into his hand, charges up and fires a single, devastating shot. What I especially love is that the sound guys took some time to make him sound right. They took all of Movie Starscream's voice clips and upped the pitch, and also added some more synthesis, to make him sound like a nightmarish Chris Latta.
G1 Sunstorm is slightly less impressive having just played Starscream. He's identical, has the same voice clips, but features a chargable melee punch, a weapon-overheat wave and flamethrowers. Not much use from afar, he's clearly made for getting up close and personal.
Soundwave is excellent. Make him one of your last characters to try out if you want to end on a high note. Everything on him is alien. His vehicle mode is a cybertronian jet (not a satellite), which makes an eerie noise as it glides along. His wings also bend and move in accordance to which way he's flying. All his weapons are lasers, no ballistics. And, if you launch his special in robot mode, he deploys a Rumble drone that transforms and starts stomping on the ground, knocking enemies away. However, if you launch his special in vehicle mode, he deploys a Laserbeak drone who hangs in the sky and rains laser fire down on targets. Both drones are weak but pack a punch while they can. It's a little awkward listening to Soundwave taunt and comment on the score in multiplayer, but nothing to lose sleep over.
Finally, Jetfire. Jetfire is meh. He's big, he creaks when he walks (which is a nice touch). He can't perform any of the sharp manoeuvres (I think) and he can only rain down bombs in vehicle mode. His special lights up all enemies on the map. He's big, slow and, in context, he's great. But as a character to play as, well, not my personal favourite but there's nothing actually wrong with him at all.
One thing that I would've loved to have seen are more soundbites from G1. Prime's rifle, Megatron's canon, the G1 transformation sound. None are present (in there original forms), with the transformation sound being only an approximation of what it used to be. Its the transformation sound, alright, but its not the G1 sound. Not that it's a huge deal, but it seems that, apart from the voice actors who were there anyway, there might have been an issue securing those sounds or the studio thought it would be better simply not to at all. Its a small point, but try playing and picturing those sounds in place and you'll realise how much of an effect they would've had.
Also, some missions to introduce and explore the new characters would've been nice. If only to exhibit their voice clips and thus their personality. No real effort is made to integrate them into the game - they don't appear mid-mission doing commentary, cut-scenes involving them don't happen (G1 Prime doesn't shoot Demolisher, it just fades out, and the final cutscene will cut back to the movie counterparts even if you were playing G1). But, its a character pack. That's all they promised and they delivered.
Very happy with what I have though.
Definite buy if you're on the fence.
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